Photographs and documents relating to VE Day celebrations, on May 8th, 1945.
'Victory in Europe' (VE) Day celebrations in Gill Street, May 8th, 1945.
More detail »A street party in Gill Street celebrating VE Day - almost exclusively women and children.
More detail »Celebrating V.E. Day in Everett Street in 1945. The lady just in shot on the left is Minni Christal and the little girl popping her head over her left shoulder is her daughter Mary Lees (nee Christal).
More detail »A street party in Mozart Street, West Hartlepool. Many in the group are showing the victory symbol.
This image includes residents of Green Street which backed on to Mozart Street. Mr Terence Briscoe lived in Green Street and has provided us with some of the names of his family and his memories.
His mother Ethel (nee Cleary) is the person third on the left, standing. His brother, John is slightly on her right with a paper hat on his head. His sister Maureen is on the first row second from the right, sitting. Terence himself is the half face below his mother.
The lady on the right sitting on a chair was a self appointed leader of the two streets, a comparable of Ena Sharples of Coronation Street.
Mr Briscoe notes that very few men are in the photograph."The spirits were high on this day and the men were high on spirits. The landlord of the Burn Hotel which was only a stone(d) throw away evidently had tried to increase the alcoholic populace by donating a couple of barrels of Cameron's Beer".
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